Frequency and time domain analysis of power delivery network for monolithic 3D ICs

Abstract

As 2D scaling reaches its limit, monolithic 3D IC (M3D) is a leading contender to continue equivalent scaling. Although M3D shows power and performance benefits over 2D designs, designing a power delivery network (PDN) for M3D is challenging. In this paper, for the first time, we present a system-level PDN model of M3D designs focusing on both resistive (IR) and inductive (Ldi/dt) components of power-supply integrity. In addition, we present frequency- and time-domain analysis of the M3D PDN. We show that the additional resistance in the M3D PDN, while being worse for resistive drops, improves resiliency against current noise showing 35.9% peak impedance reduction during worst-case resonant oscillations.